An endeavour to permute this bitter truth into a new reality has been in the making at `Spandan', a city-based day-school for the mentally challenged, for more than two decades. Established in 1976 by the Banyan City Jaycees Education Trust, the school complex, built over 30,000 sq ft land at Karelibaug, presents an ideal ground for the mental well-being of its beneficiaries.

The grant-in-aid school, recognised by Gujarat Government, offers admission and specialised training to such children between 6 and 16 years. Says Minal Parekh of Spandan, ``We have divided the children into five groups, three of which comprise the `Trainable' and one each of the Pre-Educable and Educable, depending upon their chronological and mental ages. Besides, observation, individual evaluation and case study of each child is conducted by our five teachers, and sometimes with the assistance of the K G Patel Children Hospital.''

Though primarily dealing with formal and informal special education, the institution also offers vocational training through making candles, office files, greeting cards and doormats to help the children utilise their skills and simultaneously find a source of income. ``Sadly, most parents tend to be apathetical to the situation of these children whom they consider as a burden. While the income these children earn may be minimal, it helps develop some affinity between the parent and child who, in a way, becomes an earning member of the family,'' says Parekh.

More than 40 students from the city are enrolled in Spandan today, a number Parekh is not particularly satisfied with. ``One would always hope that more such children come here both to learn and grow. This limited figure only reflects how cagey parents can be when it comes to introducing their `lesser' children to the society. At home, they live in isolation, often with no one to converse with. Here, we make every possible effort to integrate them with the ``normal'' world, even teaching them simple things as buying the grocery so that they can carry out some routine chores when at home,'' she adds.

While Parekh forsees a possibility of Spandan becoming a residential school for the mentally handicapped, she is particularly sceptical about how effective it would prove for the children. Her foremost apprehension is offering the parents ``an opportunity to shun their responsibility.''

``My greatest objection to the idea of a residential school is that parents will simply dump their children here and forget all about them. Above all things, these children need a patient hearing and care which no teacher or maid-servant can offer. In fact, more than these children, it is the entire family that has to learn to cope with the disability. We conduct parental and sibling education and counselling, home visits and joint meetings to make them aware, but the only way we can bring about a transformation is by forcing the parents to do a rethink,'' she asserts.